


An Undesired Match

by essequamvideri24



Category: 15th Century CE RPF, The Shadow of the Tower, The White Princess (TV), The White Queen (TV), Winter King: Henry VII and the Dawn of Tudor England - Thomas Penn
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-27
Updated: 2015-09-27
Packaged: 2018-04-23 16:57:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4884550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/essequamvideri24/pseuds/essequamvideri24
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Henry and Elizabeth meet in 1500 regarding a match they tried to make for de Puebla.</p>
            </blockquote>





	An Undesired Match

“Come along, Mary.” Elizabeth encouraged the little girl toddling along beside her down the corridor. “Or shall Mama carry you? Are you tired?”

“No.” The flame haired child insisted, quickening her pace, red curls bouncing with the effort and her cheeks blossoming with a flush.

She could not help but grin, her daughter was fiercely independent. While playing with the child in the nursery earlier she had told Mary she was leaving to see her father. The child had responded by saying she would come too. It had not been a question, but rather a statement. The little girl reminded her so much of young Harry, who was now at Eltham with Margaret.

Mary should have been in the royal nursery with the other children by now, but in the wake of Edmund’s death Henry had allowed her to keep their youngest with her just a little longer. Elizabeth had needed diversions to keep her mind off of the loss, and their energetic daughter had been just the thing. That and her favorite hobby of match-making.

“Come, hold Mama’s hand.” She told the child, grasping the chubby hand her daughter offered her.

“I never get to go to Papa’s rooms. Will he be surprised to see me?”

Elizabeth guided them to the doors of the King’s apartments, guarded by men with pikes, “Let’s find out.” She nodded to the guards and they moved aside to permit access.

The doors opened and Mary burst in, eager to explore the rooms and find her father. Elizabeth followed, her lips curling up at the corners as she watched her daughter dart about, a look of glee on her plump face as she searched for her father.

“I think Papa is in his study.” She said moving toward the door to the room, which stood ajar. Mary was there in an instant, pushing the door open and running headlong into the room.

“Papa!” Mary exclaimed running to her father who sat behind a desk laden with stacks of papers and littered with quills, ink wells, and stubs of red wax. Henry set down the magnifying glass she had ordered him from Venice as a gift only a year ago. She watched as Mary clambered up into her father’s lap unbidden. The girl knew such behavior was not fit for a princess, but she also knew her father would forgive her for it.

Elizabeth stepped into the room to find Foxe by the fire, a small book in his clutch. “Your grace.” He said, bowing to the Queen, then turned to face Henry, “I will leave you to enjoy the company of your family, your grace.”

“We will speak again soon, Foxe.” Henry responded his hand stroking his daughter’s curls, as Mary situated herself on her father’s knee, her fingers already reaching for the polished wood handle of the magnifying glass.

“I see you brought the little troublemaker with you, Bess.” Henry said, cocking a smile at her as Elizabeth came around the desk to perch on a cleared portion of the surface.

“You know she has a mind of her own,” She watched as Henry distracted the child with some grapes, handing them to her one at a time as the child gobbled them down, “She came of her own accord, there was no stopping her from seeing her Papa.”

Henry snapped grape after grape off the cluster, as Mary continued to pop them in her mouth. “You indulge her too much.”

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow, “Really?” She asked incredulously, motioning to the tableau of Henry feeding her fruit to her heart’s content.

Laughter escaped his lips, “Lord help the man she marries someday, he shall need it.”

“Speaking of marriage…” She said lightly, twisting her wedding ring about on her finger.

Henry sighed, “Go on.”

“I don’t suppose you have any news from Spain?”

“About Princess Katherine?” He placed the remainder of the grapes back on a wood tray standing atop a precarious stack of papers, far from Mary’s reach.

“No, about de Puebla?” 

Henry searched his desk for something else to distract his squirming daughter. “Ah yes, I had forgot quite how many irons we had in the fire when it came to match making.” Mary reached for the chain about her father’s neck, her fingers closing around the bejeweled medallion that dangled down at her eye-level.

“So, have you heard anything?” 

Sitting back in his chair, his hand stroking Mary’s hair and she studied the large ruby set into the medallion, Henry shook his head. “No.”

“It’s been a few months since we last asked, surely we must receive some response soon.” 

“I do not know if there will be a response.” He admitted.

Elizabeth eyes fell to the carpet below, “Maybe the letter was lost.”

“That is what you said about the first letter to Ferdinand and Isabella. It is rare for a letter bearing a royal seal to be lost, it is even rarer that it is lost twice.”

She looked at the letters spread out over the desk, he was right and she knew it. Letters under a King’s seal normally reached their destination. “What do you think it means, that they have not written back?”

He reached out to cover her hand with his. “I think it means that it is not God’s will that this match be made.”

She bit her lip, feeling a little foolish for having tried to make a match that ended up being disagreeable to at least one of the parties.

“I know. I know you had so wanted to reward de Puebla, but I do not think this is the way.” He gave her hand a squeeze, “We can find some other favor to bestow on him.”


End file.
